The current issue of NIH MedlinePlus magazine brings you recording artist and Broadway actress Jordin Sparks sharing her family’s experience with sickle cell disease. Sparks opens up about honoring her late stepsister, giving more patients a voice, and reducing stigma. She says, “We need to end the stigma that can come with sickle cell disease. No one should feel alienated because they are in pain.”

In addition to insights into and research on sickle cell disease, the issue also features:

• Heartburn—Learn how to manage symptoms on your own and with your health care provider.
• Improving endometriosis diagnosis through research and awareness—Studies aim to find easier, less expensive options for this common gynecological disease, whose primary symptoms are pain and infertility.
• Finding self-confidence with vitiligo—A patient shares the power of acceptance as she copes with this disease that causes skin to lose color. Researchers share the latest treatment options.
• What happens when your thyroid doesn’t work correctly?—Learn more about this small, butterfly-shaped gland in your neck.

Through feature articles, personal stories, infographics, and more, NIH MedlinePlus helps explain how the National Institutes of Health turns “discovery into health.”

Check out this quarterly magazine online. Visit MedlinePlus for additional information about health topics covered in the magazine and more.

By Andrew Michael Wiley, writer/producer in the Office of Communications and Public Liaison at NLM

NLM in Focus is a product of the NLM Office of Communications and Public Liaison. You’re invited to subscribe to receive word of future articles. We welcome your comments, likes, and shares.